PCToday

Your official news source for Pennsylvania College of Technology

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Addition to veterans park reflects college collaboration
April 9, 2021
T-shirts, teamwork spread uplifting message
March 11, 2021
Residents’ lives warmed by students’ personal touch
February 16, 2021

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College Relations General Information Scholarships Students

College launches $1.5 million ‘Kick Start Scholarship’ project

Pennsylvania College of Technology is committing $1.25 million in existing scholarships and $250,000 in new scholarships for incoming students in Fall 2021.

Eligible students may receive up to $5,000 scholarship awards through the initiative, known as the Kick Start Scholarship project. Part of the college’s plan to continue seeking the best and the brightest prospective students, the project is being launched during somewhat turbulent times to ensure that a Penn College degree is accessible to more students.

To be considered for a Kick Start Scholarship award, prospective students are being asked to submit a 30- to 60-second video that shares how the scholarship will help kick start their education at Penn College. The college is sharing the videos on its social media platforms.

Automated Manufacturing & Machining Engineering Design Technology Engineering Technologies General Information Welding

Penn College offering summer manufacturing experience

Pennsylvania College of Technology will expose high schoolers to the marvels of manufacturing and the sector’s rewarding career possibilities, thanks to a grant-supported initiative.

From July 18-22, the college will host the Thingamajig Fabricators Pre-College Program for students entering grades 9-12. Participants will learn how everyday objects are designed and fabricated while receiving hands-on experience with 3D design software, machining, CNC automation and welding. Students will use their new skills to fabricate a toolbox, hammer and nail punch.

Penn College faculty will lead individual workshops in the school’s state-of-the-art labs. Sessions will be complemented by guest speakers and tours of regional manufacturing sites.

Faculty & Staff

Penn College welcomes new employees

PCToday continues its regular feature – welcoming new full-time and regular part-time Pennsylvania College of Technology employees, as reported by the Human Resources Office.

Faculty & Staff General Information Students

Growth opportunity

The Penn College contingent tends vegetable plots at the community garden.

Five students and Penn College’s coordinator of student engagement traveled to the Williamsport Red Shield Community Garden this past weekend for the latest “(community) Service Saturday” event.

Joining Office of Student Engagement staff member Trisha M. Temple (who also provided the photo) were Dean R. Fulton, of Palmyra, enrolled in business administration: marketing concentration; Diana M. Gaglione, of Scranton, building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration; Alicia Martinez, Allentown, aviation maintenance technology; Skylar J. Merrick, of Mansfield, pre-radiography; and Sophia G. Wiest, of Butler, entrepreneurial innovation.

Sports Wildcat Weekly

Four Penn College teams earn wins

During a week in which the weather was most cooperative, all six Pennsylvania College of Technology spring sports teams saw action and four posted wins, including a program-first in men’s lacrosse.

Students

SGA announces newly elected senators, officers for 2021-22

New and returning Student Government Association senators and members of the executive board were announced Friday afternoon by outgoing President Ethan M. McKenzie, who optimistically predicted that their performance would continue the momentum of a challenging – yet “transformative” – 2020-21 academic year.

“These student leaders have hitherto served their institution with distinction, and I’m certain they are more than capable of carrying on and augmenting the legacy we’ve built this past year,” said McKenzie, of Muncy, graduating next month in software development and information management. “My sincerest congratulations to each of SGA’s elected leaders.”

Alumni Building Construction Civil Engineering & Surveying Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students

Addition to veterans park reflects college collaboration

The keystone of the Penn College pathway, centered over the honorees' names below

Four members of the ConCreate Design Club joined instructor Harry W. Hintz Jr. at the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park this week, installing paving bricks engraved with the names of Penn College students and faculty who have worked on the project over the past three years. The group rendezvoused at the West Fourth Street/Wahoo Drive site with John O. Markley, of the Veterans Memorial Park Commission, who oversaw the latest enhancement to the ever-expanding memorial. As preparations continue for a Memorial Day dedication at the park, organizers generously wanted to permanently spell out the college’s collaboration. The pavers acknowledge Hintz and three other faculty members – Glenn R. Luse, Richard R. Motter Jr. and Franklin H. Reber Jr. – as well as more than 100 students engaged in the improvements to date, from site preparation to stone-wall construction.

Alumni Career Services Students

Four employers staffing ‘pop-up’ recruitment tables in week ahead

Students and alumni from a variety of majors in Penn College’s School of Engineering Technologies can talk one-on-one with potential employers during the coming days.

Cumberland Truck Equipment – 9 a.m.-noon Monday, April 12; Schneebeli Earth Science Center diesel lab (Room 163)
XPO Logistics – 9 a.m.-noon Wednesday, April 14; ESC diesel lab
Warfel Construction – 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, April 15; Hager Lifelong Education Center lobby
Aerotek – 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, April 16; LEC lobby

For more, including specific majors sought by each of those companies, consult the Career Services flyer: Employer visits

Business, Arts & Sciences Faculty & Staff Human Services & Restorative Justice Students

What is human services and restorative justice?

Instructor Sarah S. Moore tackles the most commonly asked questions about a career path that runs the gamut of options, from probation officer to working in foster care, in the latest Penn College Q&A video. “It’s a generalist degree. You’re looking at things from a multi-prong approach. It’s interdisciplinary and students have the ability to tailor that major based on their interest,” Moore explains. “Students often minor in areas of psychology, criminal justice or emergency management. Being able to do that helps the student to earn their degree, but yet be able to focus or specialize in an area that interests them.” In a brisk, informative four minutes, learn how you can inspire change and enrich the lives of others with a career in human services and restorative justice.

Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business, Arts & Sciences Faculty & Staff

College creates virtual lessons for CTCs’ use during closures

Chef Mary G. Trometter, assistant professor of hospitality management/culinary arts at Pennsylvania College of Technology, presents a lesson on “How Trim and Waste Impacts Profit and Loss” in the hospitality industry. It is one of more than a dozen video lessons produced by Penn College faculty members for use in high schools and career and technology centers when they cannot meet in person.

When the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association called on its collegiate partners to provide virtual lessons for future culinarians in its high school program, Pennsylvania College of Technology chef/instructors answered – and high school teachers are grateful.

Designed to be used when schools must shift to remote learning, Penn College faculty developed lesson plans and produced more than a dozen videos, with support from the college’s Educational & Emerging Technologies Office.

General Information Students

ROTC battalion hosting visit by mobile VR simulator

The Army's "Decide to Lead" exhibit ... — The Army’s “Decide to Lead” exhibit …

... lets students take charge of a virtual world, emerging with leadership traits honed in their chosen scenario. — … lets students take charge of a virtual world, emerging with leadership traits honed in their chosen scenario.

The U.S. Army’s “Decide to Lead” trailer, a virtual reality simulator that provides a glimpse into the daily life of a junior officer, will be stationed on Penn College’s main campus on Thursday, April 15. Students interested in Army ROTC can visit the interactive exhibit, which allows them “to exercise critical-thinking skills as a platoon leader navigating a complex mission assignment while demonstrating their own personal strengths,” said Capt. Jeffery A. Hill, a member of the Bald Eagle Battalion faculty. (Penn College is part of the battalion, along with Lock Haven and Mansfield universities and Lycoming College.) The recruitment vehicle will be on the Susquehanna Street mall, just outside the Keystone Dining Room, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day.
Photos provided

Alumni Art & Graphic Design Business, Arts & Sciences College Relations Faculty & Staff General Information Scholarships Students

Students to benefit from co-author’s tribute to late mentor

Bill Byham (left, in a photo taken by Lycoming College for his 2013 enshrinement in the institution's Athletics Hall of Fame) and Tom Speicher

When local sports legend Bill Byham passed away in late May 2017, his unpublished novel – offering relevant life lessons through the prism of junior-high football – could easily have died with him.

The manuscript of “Bucky Deacon’s Dilemma,” pecked out on a typewriter during summers by the pool, had languished for decades since Byham tried unsuccessfully to get it published through the comparably limited outlets of the 1980s and ’90s. The dream of sharing Bucky’s story with the world would have remained unrealized, but for a friend who fondly remembered his once-upon-a-time reading of it.

“A couple weeks before he died, Bill just wanted to write. He talked about it a lot,” said Tom Speicher, who met Byham as a Lycoming College freshman. “About two years afterward, I got the idea that publishing his book would be a great way to pay tribute to him. We need more stories like this, sharing the virtues of teamwork, conflict resolution and friendship.”

College Relations Electrical Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students Workforce Development

PPL provides funding for mechatronics trainer components

In a mechatronics lab at Pennsylvania College of Technology, student Andrew C. Caffrey gains industrial electricity skills at a portable, modular trainer featuring components purchased with PPL grant funds. Caffrey, of Denver, Pennsylvania, is enrolled in automation engineering technology: mechatronics.

PPL has provided $13,000 toward the purchase of trainers to enhance the knowledge and skills of mechatronics students, whether they are enrolled in academic majors or are completing apprenticeship programs offered by Workforce Development at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The grant funding enabled the college to purchase mechanical and hydraulic components to increase training-unit capacity, as well as a flammable-liquid cabinet to satisfy safety requirements.

Sports Wildcat Weekly

Penn College golf, tennis teams look to openers

After being idled by the pandemic last spring and fall, Pennsylvania College of Technology golf and men’s and women’s tennis teams are more than ready to get going again.

The golf season is scheduled to start Wednesday when Lycoming College and Susquehanna University square off with the Wildcats at Williamsport Country Club while the tennis season begins Saturday at Lancaster Bible College. And one thing athletes in both sports face is getting back into a competitive-play mode after their long layoffs in a very short time as North Eastern Athletic Conference playoffs will be held in just three weeks.

Over this past weekend, the college’s men’s lacrosse and women’s softball teams both saw action while the scheduled baseball games were postponed.